George Sinclair was a gardener and writer on horticulture. From 1803 to 1820, Sinclair worked as a gardener for John Russell, sixth duke of Bedford, at Woburn Abbey. Whilst working there he conducted extensive experiments on the effect of different fertilisers on grasses and their nutritional benefits for use as animal fodder. He published his results in 1816 in this book, the first edition of which contains dried and pressed specimens of the grasses. In later editions, these were replaced with cheaper illustrations.